This holiday season, during your next stint abroad, or on your next stay-cation, take some time to plan. Plan for the year ahead, the next 5 or 10 years. Just take the time to plan. So many of us struggle to carry out our goals because we let life get in the way. I’ve fallen short in the past by making broad statements like, “next year I want to buy property,” and not coming up with specific action items to carry out this “want.” Here are a few techniques that have helped me set and achieve my goals. The key for me was to write these down and follow through.
1. Replace “Want” with “Will”
Instead of writing that you “want” to do something, write that you “will” do it. There is a multitude of research regarding the Law of Attraction and I have found it to work for me. Check out this article. For me, it’s a fairly simple rationalization – If I’ve got a goal etched into my brain as a non-negotiable, I am more likely to make decisions on a daily basis that support that goal. For the buying property example, I wrote, “This year, I will buy property (2 acres minimum).”
2. Set an Actionable Timeline
You’ve got to give yourself deadlines and specifics about what to do to lead up to each deadline. See this article for an interesting finding regarding the science behind deadlines. You want to make sure you’re setting a reasonable timeline for yourself and the best way to do so is to break it down into bite-size chunks. So, my example reads as follows:
“January 15th – Check credit score to make sure there are no issues by the end of January. See this article for more on Credit-Adulting.
February 15th – Pay off Credit Card by the end of February.
March 1st – Begin touring neighborhoods at the beginning of March.
April 15th – Prequalify for mortgage loan by the end of April.
May 1st – Begin touring properties at the beginning of May.
June 15th – Make an offer by the end of June.
August 15th – Close by the end of August.”
3. Keep it Front and Center
Make sure your plan is always in your sight and in your mind. If you’re like me, you live by your calendar. This works for me by putting it on the calendar on the refrigerator, my planner, and my outlook calendar. In addition, you can make printables and print them as artwork. After all, your goals are the works of art that build your legacy. Why not artfully place the reminders of said goals in as many places as possible. You can use this handy app to make beautiful printables like this one:
Now, all you have left is to be mindful and practice your infallible willpower to carry out your goals. Once you’ve taken this time to plan, you’ll be surprised at how uplifting it is to have a strategy to stick to for the coming months and years.
Have you tried this or other methods to crush your goals? Let us know here.
